


The One Where a Possible Ghost is Met

by AnnaRooma



Series: Snippets of Winter [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, How Do I Tag, I Don't Even Know, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Not Beta Read, Powers Causing Problems, Talking on Rooftops, Vigilantes Mentioned in Passing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:35:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27684335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnaRooma/pseuds/AnnaRooma
Summary: Jenna Winter has always wanted to help people. She may not have helped in any significant way duringThe Incidentalmost three years prior (she was likeninethough). She is older now though, her body is... different in more ways than shape-shifting can explain. She decided that helping people now would be a great idea. But it might've been harder to do than she thought it would be.“Maybe I shouldn’t continue doing this.”“Maybe you shouldn’t.”
Series: Snippets of Winter [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2024462





	The One Where a Possible Ghost is Met

**Author's Note:**

> So, I wrote this during two separate post-2am writing sessions. I am European, and I've never been to anywhere outside of Europe, so I'm sorry if anything in this fictional setting of New York is misrepresented.
> 
> Jenna is a character that's been living rent-free in my mind and day-dreams for years, so most of whatever I write will include her. I'm planning on writing more things in this general universe, but we'll see if that ever happens.
> 
> If original characters is something you really dislike, please do leave this story and read something else,

The first time she heard of this “Ghost” was the first time most people outside of Hell’s Kitchen heard of them. Jenna herself was just a few months past her 12th birthday, reading through the _New York Bulletin_ when she saw a small mention about this mysterious vigilante, who seemed to fly between buildings and left short notes describing what had supposedly happened, signed with a “– G”, on top of an unconscious victim (or criminal if they weren’t lying in their notes). It wasn’t an article, just a small notice to the side, warning the readers about this violent person haunting the city from the shadows.

More notices in the newspaper pop up over the year.

The first time Jenna meets the Ghost, she was a bit different from how she was the previous year.

Really, she had had an awful birthday not even three weeks prior to this meeting. She seemed to have caught some really awful, really short-termed, flu just barely a week before her birthday. She had been so ill and sick that she had stayed in bed almost constantly. Barely eating the first day she spent home in bed, barely keeping anything other than water down. The days after that though, she started feeling and eating better and better and better, until she was completely healthy again. Well, some things _were_ changed after she got better. She seemed to eat a _lot_ more than before the short flu, and things were a bit sharper than before too. Maybe even a bit brighter too. She swore to herself that she definitively was able to hear Tony mumble quietly to himself from across the room.

Not that she told anyone. Just like she didn’t tell anyone that she accidentally broke at least three different door handles. Or that at least one of the doorknobs broke because her hand seemed to have gotten stuck on it.

Jenna had always liked to help people. She even tried to help during what’s now referred to as _The Incident_ almost 4 years later, she couldn’t really help with the fighting, but she did manage to use some of the mysterious power she seemed to possess that allowed her to open something akin to _portals_. She managed to get a couple of people out of harm’s way by sending them somewhere safe(er) than in the middle of an alien invasion before she almost got too tired to keep her eyes open.

Now though. Now that she was a bit different from before, donning the provisional suit she made, after making a couple of revisions and sizing it up a bit, she could possibly help at least one person. One person who no-one else heard.

And she did.

One person turned into two, which turned into ten, which turned into many more by the end of the week. And while she was no Spider-Man (recently popped up around Queens _trying_ to help people around the neighbourhood by dealing with both crime and helping needing people across the street), and no Daredevil (whom hasn’t been seen for almost a month by now) (she doesn’t dare being _nearly_ as violent as that vigilante seems to be) and she isn’t a Ghost either, Jenna still thought she’s doing alright when it came to helping people in need.

Even if she had no idea how she was actually supposed to throw a punch. Or a kick. Or how to not accidentally, definitively breaking a man’s (who was trying to mug an older teen, or young adult, threatening them with a knife) ribs by throwing a definitively too hard punch. His head had slammed into the opposite wall by the force and started bleeding, definitively not conscious, but alive. She had asked the victim of the attempted mugging to call 911 and report the incident and mention that an ambulance was most likely needed for their assailant. Jenna swiftly left the scene after making sure that they did what she asked, and that the unconscious and severely hurt person was going to be okay. She climbed on top of the nearest building, and as soon as the ambulance had arrived, ran as far away as she could over the rooftops.

Finally stopping after a couple of minutes. She sat down on the roof she happened to be on, and her tears started flowing. Maybe helping people _isn’t_ what she should be doing. Maybe she’s just so _bad_ at it that she should just _stop_. Stop after just about a week-and-a-half. Because how good of a help could a person be if they just hurt someone as much as she just did? How could she even call herself a good _person_ if she had the capacity to hurt someone like she did?

“I get it, you know?” a rather pleasant voice said from behind Jenna who whipped her head around at the sound. “The whole… hurting someone by mistake. Hurting someone so much worse than you thought possible. But you know. It’s alright.” The person was completely clad in black, almost melting in with the surrounding shadows. They shook their head with a single monotone laugh “Well, it isn’t. but it _will be_. The person who’s hurt. They’ll get better.”

Jenna looked at the person through her tear-stained eyes and sniffled. “How did you–”

“I heard it.” They vaguely gestured to their right ear. “And… I could hear your self-pitying from at least three rooftops away.” She could almost hear a _smile_ in their voice when they said that.

Jenna looked at the person opposite her once more, trying to figure out who the _hell_ it could be, but couldn’t really find any defining features. She entertained the thought of it being the Man in the Mask for a moment, before dismissing it, since the person in front of her did not seem to bear any resemblance to Daredevil other than being clad in black (which Daredevil wasn’t anymore). Which technically she was as well. That’s irrelevant. The person facing her could not _actually_ be the _Ghost_ , could they? Right?

Sniffling again, her tears having finally subsided a bit, she asked a small “Who are you?” because she really couldn’t have the kind of luck that she’d actually meet a vigilante after just hurting a man so bad with just one badly thrown punch.

“I’m what most people in this city calls the Ghost.” They are _definitively_ smiling. They huffed out a laugh. “It’s actually more fitting than what most people would think it actually is.” They seemed to smile and lightly shook their head before gesturing towards the edge of the roof. The Ghost went and sat there, let their feet dangle over the edge, and patted the area next to them. Jenna followed them to the edge, sat on their right and looked towards them. “You messed up; I know. Everyone messes up–”

“Maybe I shouldn’t continue doing this.” Her voice was small as she looked down to her lap. A sob racked through her body as all the thoughts of her failure came rushing back to her with full force. “I just… What if it… I can’t…” Jenna continued sobbing, feeling the coldness of the air and feeling how much colder it seemed to get as her tear-stained mask got wetter and wetter.

“Maybe you shouldn’t.” The Ghost said lowly after a few moments of silence and sobbing. She turned her head a little bit towards them as they spoke. “Do you even know how to fight? Know how to defend _yourself_?” Her eyes widened under her tear-stained mask as she knew she couldn’t answer with an affirmative to either question. She slowly shook her head as she looked back down again, already feeling the tears creeping back.

“No…”

Once again, they lapsed into silence, only her quiet sobs breaking the silence occasionally.

The Ghost stretched their back out behind them, leaned on their arms, and looked up at the night sky. After several moments they let out a deep sigh, making her look toward them, followed their line of sight up. All she could see was the night sky of a bright city. It was a clear night, but she could definitively count the number of stars she could see on just one hand.

“What?” Her voice was small. The Ghost just sighed once more before answering.

“Sometimes…” They trailed off for a moment, seemingly thinking of how to answer. “Sometimes I wish I lived somewhere less bright. Less loud.” Jenna could easily agree with their response. The big city was bright. Recently she’d also noticed how much louder the city is. Not necessarily while at home, but when she was out and doing things, like taking walks or being at school. If she got the opportunity to move somewhere quieter, and dark enough to see the night sky, she’d probably take it. But she had gotten into a great school, made friends, and Tony had a job to do here. Or something. Probably.

The Ghost taking a deep breath brought her out of her musings. “I understand what you mean.” She agreed, leaning back in the same position as the vigilante beside her. Once again, a silence laid itself over them both. Her tears had finally stopped falling, and her sobs had almost completely stopped racking her body.

The Ghost shifted a bit in their position, looking a bit more toward Jenna. “Why did you decide to do this?” She almost jumped off the building from the surprise of the question, she thought they’d already moved on from these kinds of questions. The Ghost for some reason seemed to take her jumping a decimetre and a half in the air as confusion, so they clarified. “Why did you decide to put on the mask you’re wearing? _Without_ knowing how to fight if I may add that.”

That got her thinking. It should be an easy answer for her to give, but suddenly, it wasn’t. She wanted to give them a good impression of her, but that had likely already failed when they found her crying her eyes out on top of the building, she didn’t want to come off as childish or naïve.

“I guess I just… I’ve always _wanted_ to help people but before recently, I didn’t have any powers, or the strength required to really help in any other way than evacuating people. But now I’m pretty sure I’m much stronger, I don’t… I don’t get hurt as easily as I did before either.” Random bruises appearing randomly on her because she apparently walked into a table or the bed (or door frames in general because her vision out of her right eye gave up again (it doesn’t anymore)) a day ago are now a thing of the past. She stopped to think for a moment.

“I also… Hear a lot more now. I guess. It’s harder to ignore people screaming for help or in pain when it almost sounds like they’re only a few metres away. So, almost two weeks ago I heard a child, who was barely out of elementary from the looks of it, screaming for help I just… I couldn’t just _not_ help them. I veered off from the path to the to- my home, dragged my hood as low over my face as I could, then ran over to where I heard the kid screaming from.” Jenna managed to smile a small half-smile under the cold mask. “I managed to save the kid from being kidnapped by some strange older dude that was _not_ related to them.”

The Ghost hummed and sat back up. “I guess that is a good a reason as any.” They looked back at her as they stood back up and lightly stretched out their back, she followed suit and stood back up as well. “Now you just have to learn to defend yourself, fight, and how to control that enhanced strength you seem to have.”

“Could you teach me?” She sounded hopeful.

“No.” Their answer was short and serious. “I can’t, I’m sorry.” Jenna deflated just a bit at that. They tilted their head and rose their shoulders in a way that could possibly be interpreted as a ‘sorry’. “Does anyone know about you? In your personal life I mean. Know that you have these powers or enhancements and that you’re out here trying to help people?” It was a question, but she got a feeling that they already knew the answer.

“No, no-one knows about me.” They nodded and hummed to that.

“That might make some things more complicated for you, unless you are willing to tell someone.” She immediately started shaking her head to that. “But I doubt that you would. Asking to get some self-defence classes would definitively be beneficial. And since we _do_ live in New York, I’d guess whoever you’d ask would agree that it’d be a good idea.” This time it was she who hummed to that in agreement.

“Yeah, I’ll ask To- my dad? When I’m back home tonight.” She hesitated for a moment before continuing talking. “Does anyone know about you?” They stiffened for a moment before answering.

“Yes.” They paused for a moment. “My umm… My mum. I told her about a year ago.” She waited for a few moments to see if they’d continue talking, but when they didn’t, she busied herself with dusting off her backside and gloves before taking out her phone from a slightly hidden pocket to look at the time.

“Oh _shit_!” She exclaimed when she saw it. From the corner of her eye she could see the Ghost jump at her exclamation. “I did _not_ realise it was this late!” She looked around for a moment. “And I am not completely sure where I am at the moment…” She trailed off and looked expectantly at the vigilante.

“You’re just on the eastern border to Hell’s Kitchen.” They paused briefly. “What time _is_ it?”

She showed her phone to them and said: “Eight thirty-three in the evening. I have definitively missed dinner by now. Shit.” They both started to get ready to leave.

“By the way,” The Ghost started. “We should meet up again. Probably best when you’ve had some training.” She readily agreed with a smile. They were about to start running when they added, almost as an afterthought: “Oh, and you should get a burner phone. Using your private phone in situations like these could get problematic real fast.”

**Author's Note:**

> I know this isn't the best, or even really good, but I am really proud of myself for actually finishing something for once. It usually... Never happens.
> 
> Thank you for reading! Comments and Kudos are very welcome


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